Fear
camera shows a field of grass with rolling hills, just outside Ateria. Storm clouds completely cover the sky, as rain pours down, with flashes of lightning in the distance and occasional booms of thunder. The camera cuts and shows two To'kustars: the white one and the black one from before, colliding with each other. They push on each other; while the white one appears to be trying to knock the other one over, the black one appears to be on the defensive, trying to prevent the white one from getting through. The white one gets pushed over, sending out a large boom as it falls on the ground. The camera shows Hadria Carter and Lily Scott standing on top of the wall surrounding Ateria. Lily is halfway into the hatch leading into the space within the wall, while Hadria is staring at the two To'kustars in combat. Hadria: Why are the fighting each other, or I guess, more importantly, why is one defending the city? urgently: We don't have time to answer that now; we've got get to safety! nods her head. Lily goes down into the hatch and moments later, Hadria starts to follow. She takes one last look at the two fighting To'kustars, as the black one punches the white one directly in the face, before closing the door to the hatch. The camera cuts to them arriving at the bottom of the stairs, in the room with all of the men, including Samuel Wright and Wayne Holcomb. Samuel: Thank goodness you two are okay. I was just about to head up there to check if you were okay after all of that lightning and booming. short of breath: Has my father returned? We might need to evacuate the city... There are two To'kustars out there, and they're fighting each other. in denial: What a load of bull crap! You're telling me that after all those years of no To'kustars, that not only is there one To'kustar, but there are two To'kustars and they are fighting each other? Samuel: Holcomb, this isn't something to joke about. You're always complaining that your job is boring. Wayne: Are you kidding me, Wright? I love my job because I get to do nothing all day! Hadria: Meanwhile men like Sam and my father took this job because they're courageous. You're just a coward. Wayne: Little bitch. takes a couple steps at her, so she steps to the side, rushes forward, and sweeps her leg at his feet, causing him to fall on his face. angry: Where'd you pick that up? innocent: I don't know, maybe my father taught me! angry: Just wait until he get's back here. He's not going to be happy that you injured one of his men. Samuel: Wayne, you need to be realistic. Lawrence obviously cares more about his daughter than his men. Honestly, I can't believe you're being so ignorant. the door between the room in the wall and the city is thrust open. Lawrence is standing on the other side. Lawrence: I came as soon as I saw the flare. Who fired it and why. Is it really the-- stepping forward: Yes, it is. It's the To'kustars. I saw them myself. Lawrence: Them? How many are there? Hadria: There are two, and they were fighting each other. Lawrence: I'm going up there. Hadria: I'm coming with you-- defiant: No, you're-- Hadria: We don't have time to argue, dad. closes his eyes to think and then takes a deep breath. Lawrence: Then let's hope our training has paid off. walks over to the side of the room. All the men who are paying attention, as well as Hadria and Lily watch him as he opens up a cabinet. Lawrence: We've never had to use these before, but... camera cuts to Lawrence's face as he opens the cabinet and looks inside. The contents of the cabinet cannot be seen. desperately: We don't have a choice... ---- camera shows Vance Grace standing with his men in the open area where they conducted the demonstration. He stares at the wall, unsure of the situation. to himself: If anything goes wrong, Tuesday better bail us out. closes his eyes and remembers back to the second flash of red lightning. He then opens his eyes. to himself: But why were there two flashes of lightning? Something's not right; is one of them--? No, someone must have-- It's the only possibility... I hope. turns to his men. Vance: Alright, we're done here. Back to HQ. men start to leave as Vance looks again at the wall. grinning: But who would have done that...? No, it doesn't matter. The Forever Knights will win, and the Second Age of To'kustars will begin. Song ---- camera shows Sven Schmidt, Arik Iverson, Michael James, and Teru Hikami running down a back street in the city. Arik is carrying his father's journal, but none of the other boys have anything. They turn the corner, and Sven's house can be seen up ahead. Michael: That's your house, right? Sven: Yeah. We're far enough away to have plenty of time if anything happens by the walls. worried: Do you actually think anything is going to happen? Are we going to have to leave the city? confused: What do you mean, Arik? I thought you wanted to go beyond the walls? Teru: You want to leave the city!? Are you crazy? Arik: There's a difference between leaving out of our own free will and leaving because we don't have a choice. Michael: If you ask me, I think it's unlikely that we'll have to leave. Does the government seriously expect us to believe that we're safer outside the walls than within them. I mean, as long as we can defend against the To'kustars, there's no reason to leave. Teru: We don't even have proof that the To'kustars have returned. Arik: Did you see the flare, Teru? They would only fire that for one reason, and that's because someone saw a To'kustar. boys arrive at the house. Sven opens the door and walks inside. He doesn't see anyone at first but then turns and sees Lars, Viola, and Sonia around the corner, as if they were hiding. Lars: Thank goodness you're okay. Sven: Is it okay if my friends stay here? Viola: I don't see why not. We're waiting to hear a broadcast explaining the situation, so until we know all the details you should stay inside. worried: With how long it's been since the flare, I'm wondering if they straight up forgot to send the-- there is a loud beeping noise from outside. The beep repeats two more times as the camera shows a megaphone attached to a pole at the top of a street corner. It cuts to a bunch of other street corners, each with poles with megaphones on top of them, and a series of wires running down from the megaphone into the ground. The voice of Lawrence can be heard speaking through the megaphone. voice: Attention citizens of Ateria, this is chief of police Lawrence Carter with an emergency alert. At this time, the police is recommending that everyone gets inside and as far away from the wall as possible. The flare from earlier was not a false alarm; we have confirmation that there is at least one To'kustar approaching the city, but we do not know any more details about the situation. Please be on alert for further details as they become available, as we will try to keep you up to date. Thank you. is a sound of the megaphone shutting off. The camera cuts into the Schmidt house, with the four members of the Schmidt family and the other three boys standing almost in a circle. sarcastically: Well that was really helpful; we already knew that. defensively: Keep in mind that this system has never been tested before. Teru: And while we're here, does anyone know anything about the Forever Knights? immediately turns to Lars. continuing: I mean, I know they're basically a crime syndicate, but-- interrupting: Syndicate is not a good word to describe them. They're more like the police want-to-bees. Sure, they commit crimes, but the things they do are no petty offenses: they smuggle weapons, create fraudulent IDs, and of course they've been known to murder and abduct people as well... pauses to think. Lars: ...but to think that they're somehow working with the To'kustars... It's impossible to even consider the possibility of summoning them to the planet, let alone working with them... The Knights may be pure evil, but they're not anarchists... there is a knock at the door. Sven, the closest person to the door, walks over to it and opens it. He sees Noelle Williams on the other side, and then immediately slams the door shut. angry: No. Viola: Sven! angry: I'm not letting her in. Viola: You don't have a choice, Sven. determined: I'm-- furious: Open that door now! turns to face his father. calmly: I don't think you understand the fear of the situation. Sven: No one has ever experienced something like this before because it's never happened before. I don't think anyone can understand the fear of the situation. Lars: That's not entirely true. takes a deep breath. Lars: The only one who will remember this is Viola, but, twenty years ago, there was a To'kustar scare. Someone overhead off-duty police officers talking in town about To'kustars, and jumped to conclusions, assuming that the police knew of secret To'kustars beyond the walls. The rumors quickly spread, and it took the police weeks to restore order. After that, they established the flare and alert system, and the city has been quiet since then, at least relatively speaking. clears his throat. Lars: What I'm saying is that you need to act as if your life and everyone else's life is in danger, so you will open that door and let her in. doesn't respond. He opens the door and lets Noelle in; she walks inside the house and then Sven closes the door, still without responding. Noelle does not speak either. concerned: Is something wrong, Sven? coldly: We don't get alone. confused: You don't get alone with me! At least I try! Why else would I have come to your house? closing his eyes: Well why didn't you go to your house? Noelle: Your house was closer, and I saw you guys running here earlier, so I assumed there were a lot of people here. My parents are both working, so I would have been alone at my house. opens one eye and looks at Noelle. He then relaxes as he opens his other eye. accepting: I'll try to be more pleasant... remains quiet in the house as the Schmidt family and their guests tries to calm down despite the ongoing crisis. ---- camera shows Hadria and Lawrence standing on top of the wall surrounding the city. They are wearing special ponchos because of the rain, but they are also wearing special devices that have a wing-like apparatus on the back, and sword sheathes on either side of the waist. Lawrence is standing one step in front of Hadria, looking at the two fighting To'kustars. The white appears to have a slight advantage over the black one. Lawrence: The only question is which one to pick. Hadria: One each? Lawrence: No, I want you to stay here at first. If it turns out I'm not match for them, then I don't want you to put your life in danger. closes his eyes. Lawrence: I've told you this before, but I'll tell you again. You are the most important person in my life; I can't ever let anything happen to you, do you hear me? I won't be able to live if something happens to you. walks forward to the edge of the wall and then turns around to face Hadria. Lawrence: With that said, if I do call for help, just remember everything I've taught you, and get out as soon as I tell you to if things go wrong. nods her head in agreement. jokingly arrogant: I'll try and show you how it's done. falls backwards off the wall and then leans his head backwards to look at the To'kustars. He falls for a couple moments before a rocket within the wings of the apparatus activates. He uses the propulsion to blast away from the wall and and rotate 180 degrees so that he is upright. He draws both of the swords at his sides as he races towards the To'kustars. The white one can be seen pushing the black one back just as Lawrence arrives and slices both of the blades against the leg of the white To'kustar. A splash of blood can be seen, and the To'kustar does have a reaction to the blow, but to the giant, it is like a minor cut. It swings at Lawrence, but he ducks underneath the swiping hand, holding up both of his swords to cut the beast's hand as he flies by. The To'kustar raises his hand in minor pain as Lawrence flies up behind the To'kustar and prepares to attack from above. shouting: Now Hadria! We can kill this thing together! rushes at the To'kustar as Hadria takes a few steps towards the edge of the wall. She draws the swords and then looks at both of them, ready for the fight. Just before she jumps, she hears running footsteps and turns to see another hooded figure wearing the special device jumping off the side of the wall. This figure's poncho is larger, covering the entire face of whoever is wearing it. Hadria stops to think about who the figure could be. Hadria: Who's there!? camera shows the figure rapidly approaching the white To'kustar as it draws the swords. Lawrence can be seen slashes both of his swords along the lower back of the To'kustar, where it can't reach to attack him. The figure races in and deliver a blow to the back of the beast's neck using both of the swords. In slow motion, Lawrence looks up at the figure as a gush of blood explodes from the nape of the neck. Back at normal speed, he flies underneath the arm of the To'kustar, slicing at and hitting its elbow as he goes, before backing away to watch the figure do it's work. excited: Way to go-- slows down in flight to look at the figure more closely. Lawrence: Wait, that's not-- camera zooms of the figure, the identity of whom is still unclear. The figure doubles back and strikes the nape of the beast's neck once again, before turning and striking the front of the neck. The figure continues in a circular pattern, as if trying to completely sever the giant's head. As the figure continues, Lawrence turns to the wall and clearly sees that Hadria is still standing at the edge. confused: So who is that... And how did they get the Wings? ---- Of the three heroes, Nova was the first to come up with the idea of building a wall, which is why the inner wall bears her name. Wall Nova is the strongest of the three main walls, followed by Sera and lastly Via. All of the smaller walls surrounding the cities are between the strength of the two walls they're in between, though they are much shorter. ---- starts to fly back towards the wall as he watches the figure continue to shred the neck of the white To'kustar. He floats over the wall and then lands next to Hadria as he continues to stare, trying to figure out who the figure is. Lawrence: Did you see who that was? They have the Wings and official Aterian Police clothing, so it almost has to be someone from the police, right? Hadria: It could also be someone from the Knights? thinks about the possibility. He looks at his daughter and then back at the figure, now several inwards blows to the next, trying to stab into where the spinal cord would be in a human. Lawrence: You really think so? Hadria: Think about it. The Knights seemed to be able to predict the arrival of a To'kustar, but when the other one appeared, as if interfering with the Knights' plans, one of the members appeared to-- No, that doesn't make any sense. Lawrence: What do you mean? It makes perfect sense. Hadria: Yes, but... The white To'kustar appeared first... If the white one was on the side of the Knights, then that person would be attacking the black one, but if the black one was on the Knights side, then that means a normal To'kustar just so happened to appear right before the one that the Knights predicted did? Lawrence: We don't know enough about the Knights' plan to figure that out yet. We don't know if they plan on killing the To'kustar as a show of force, or if they plan on capturing the To'kustar for scientific purposes, or worse, for use as a weapon. turn back to the fight. The figure flies high above the To'kustar and prepares a final blow against the beast's neck. The figure slams down, stabbing both swords into the nape of the neck. The To'kustar roars out in pain as the camera cuts to the Schmidt house. Everyone inside can hear the roar. Michael: Is that the To'kustar? excited: It sounds like it's in pain; did we defeat it? Teru: What do you mean we? None of us did anything! Sven: Did the police defeat it? Arik: Hopefully we'll find out soon. camera cuts back to the wall. Lawrence and Hadria watch as the figure floats above the white To'kustar, which has fallen to the ground. Hadria: So is it dead? glances over at the black To'kustar, which has been watching the entire fight. It turns to the figure, but doesn't attack it. The To'kustar then turns towards the wall before stopping and letting out a roar. The figure jumps back as a burst of steam emerges from the sole standing alien, completely obstructing the view of Hadria and Lawrence. They step back towards the hatch, wondering what has happened. Hadria: Where are we going? Lawrence: It appears that the To'kustar is retreating, and even if, it's definitely not safe to fight when we can't see. Hadria: I... understand. begins to enter the hatch and disappears from view as Hadria remains on top of the wall for another moment. She peers through the steam as sees the shadow of a To'kustar and the shadow of the figure. It can barely be made out that the standing To'kustar is in fact the white To'kustar. Moments later, the figure rushes at the To'kustar, stabbing it in the fin at the top of its head. The figure jumps off and quickly flies away as the To'kustar suddenly falls onto its back, shaking the earth with a thud. The camera cuts and shows Lawrence, a little bit down the stairs. Lawrence: Let's go, Hadria. defiant: No. angry: Hadria! Hadria: Sorry, I'm defiant, just like you. furious: HADRIA! takes a couple steps forward and runs off the walls, activating the rocket in the device immediately. She flies up above the steam and quickly looks around. She sees someone flying away along the wall and then immediately turns and follows after the figure. The camera shows Lawrence watching Hadria as she flies away. He looks worried as he runs back into the room within the wall. He arrives in the room, walks right past the men, and then heads for the exit. Samuel: Where are you going this time, sir? Lawrence: Earlier I sent a request to military to send a squadron to help with the incident. They should be arriving shortly, and I'm going to greet them. Samuel: I'm coming with you, sir. annoyed: Fine, but only you. turns to the other men. Lawrence: Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone. and Samuel head for the exit as the camera cuts to Hadria flying over the city. The figure can be seen several hundred feet ahead of her, but the figure's identity is still completely unknown. Hadria flies over a set of houses in a back part of the city and then slows down as she sees several men standing on top of the houses ahead of her. She slowly deactivates the rocket and lands on the ground. She stops and tries to see the men, but she doesn't have a very good point of view. Still, she can tell that most of the men are armed with either swords or a bow and arrows. Hadria: I don't think they can see me, which is definitely a good thing. slowly walks forward, trying to not get caught. She walks into an intersection between two back streets and then immediately gets knocked to the side by the figure, who appears out of nowhere. She manages to regain her balance after several steps. She quickly draws her swords and puts them up to block an attack from the figure's swords. Figure: Surrender and I'll spare you're life. camera cuts back to the Schmidt house. Inside, all the people are sitting around, either in couches or chairs. Arik: That raises a good point. How do you kill a To'kustar? ignorant: What do you mean how do you kill a To'kustar? angry: Can you stop being to annoying, Teru? It's like you're trying to pick a fight. Michael: He's kind of got a point. Wouldn't you just be able to kill it as if it were a human, I don't know, by stabbing its heart or something? Noelle: Actually you're missing the point. Even if it was as simple as stabbing its heart, how do you except a human to be able to stab a To'kustar in the heart? It's not like we can ask nicely; it requires some serious planning. Michael: I guess I never thought of that. Noelle: Honestly, I wonder what the government has in their secret stash. They couldn't have thought that the To'kustars would never return, could they have? Sven: Maybe their plan is to kill the To'kustars using cannons? Arik: That seems to slow and ineffective. Sven: It's only one To'kustar. Noelle: There's only one now, but there could be more in the future. in the room drops silent. Noelle: You do realize that, right? Michael: We know, but to think that our entire way of life is on the verge of changing... It's kind of depressing. Sven: I'm sure we've all thought of this before, but if worst comes to worst, we can leave the city. furious: Sven! angry: It's true dad! Where else are we going to go! Michael: Here we go again... Do I need to repeat myself? Noelle: No, I think Sven is right... turns to Noelle. Noelle: I don't know what you talked about earlier, but if it's between staying in Ateria where we'll be on the constant defensive, and being on the run until we make it to a stronger city where we can mount a stronger assault against the To'kustars, I'll pick the latter any day. Sven: I can't believe I'm saying this, but I completely agree with you. looks at Noelle, half-happy, half-confused. Sven: Now I can't help but wonder... If we have to leave, then where do we go? camera cuts back to Hadria and the figure, still holding swords at each other. Figure: You're outmatched and you know it. Hadria: Are you with the Knights? All I really want to know is why you're working with the To'kustars. Figure: I'll take that as a no. figure pulls back the swords to strike again, but Hadria quickly reacts and reactivates the rocket, boosting backwards away from the figure, who is caught off guard. Moments later, the figures reactivates its own rocket and flies after Hadria. The latter turns the corner and then bursts down a back street. The figure follows as Hadria cuts another corner, but Hadria soon realizes that the figure is gaining on her. She looks forward and sees a bunch of house. She turns around and sees the figure, so she turns into the air to get behind the figure, who does not react quickly enough. Hadria ends up behind the figure, moving in the other direction as the figure slows down. Hadria starts to turn around, but she turns too late and crashes right into the door of the house behind her. She lands on her back and then leans backwards and looks into the house, which just so happens to be the Schmidt's house. No one appears to recognize her, so she slowly leans up, but the figure has arrived at the house and is now holding one of the swords to her neck. Figure: This is your last chance to surrender. figure, still with an unknown identity, looks into the house and sees all of the people inside it. Figure: If you don't... I'll kill everyone in this house. Be Continued